It's a little early for the big girls to be in play, but we had

some luck last Saturday on the Tennessee River. My partners

fished live bait, but I opted for a 3/4 oz football jig and trailer.

The first fish "of the season" came ten minutes into the first

drift. This baby came flying out of the water from the get-go!

I'll post a picture later.

Just under 5, about 4lbs 15oz, but she looked like 6+ to me.

Darn scale!

:

Glad you guys had some luck.  I'm going to try to get over their this Saturday and give it a shot if the rain lets off.  Did you guys do better with the live bait or the jigs?

Live bait, #6 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hook, split-shot rig.

Live bait outfishes artificials at least 5:1, maybe 10:1. However,

on this particular trip, the jig proved to be very effective. I caught

the two largest smallmouth and bigger is always better! As far

as numbers go, between four of us we probably had +/- thirty

smallmouth and a couple of hundred pounds of "other species".

That includes a 13 lb blue cat! I caught around half a dozen trash

fish, a couple of green trout and five brownies.

8-)

I'll give the jigs and live bait a try. Since I don't have a throw net do you have any suggestions on a bait store up there?  I've never caught any smallmouth so I'm not to concerned with size quite yet mainly just getting the techniques down and learning how to find them.  What size weight do you use on your split shot rig?

BP station in Counce. Buy the "big" bass minnows. The size of

the split-shot depends on current. Ideally, you want to tick the

bottom occasionally. Take plenty of tackle, you will lose a lot!

Position your boat facing upstream about casting distance plus

five yards off the bank. The perfect float is when your bait and

boat are drifting at the same speed, effectively fishing "flat" water.

ALWAYS cast upstream, NEVER downstream.

Good luck!

8-)

Great job on the river! I've only taken two smallies approaching the 5# mark, so I know how huge they are. Very impressive fish. Both the river and reservoir I fish have 5#+ smallies, but I've never been lucky enough to tie into her.....yet!  

RW,

;D That scale will humble you everytime. ;D Good you got out & have started the fall bite countdown.

Often, I catch my biggest fish when I leave the scale, the camera, or the net at home hahaha

Position your boat facing upstream about casting distance plus

five yards off the bank. The perfect float is when your bait and

boat are drifting at the same speed, effectively fishing "flat" water.

ALWAYS cast upstream, NEVER downstream.

Good luck!

8-)

Weird, on river fishing around here if I'm throwing a jig at a laydown or bush I can only get hit if I toss it downstream and am heading back into the lake.

Congrats, stupid scales, you could always say it wasn't calibrated right  .  Post the pic already, lol.

Goes back to my saying "The fisherman never lies, the darn scale does." ;D

Congrats RW on the fish and getting out on the water.

8-)

Way to go, RoadWarrior !!

Anxious to see the picture !

{not of yer mug, but of the fish--LMBO}

Well, these aren't that fish, but here are a few

from the same water:

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/smallmouth_record.html

8-)

Nice Bronze fish !!

Congrats RW on the fish,man you guys are so lucky to fish all year round.It's going to be 4 month's yet  >:(before I can go fishing for smallies and I cant wait.

So for now all I can do is come here and see what y'all are catching ,and do some reading up on what to use when the time comes.

Thanks for posting and keep up the good work and have fun guys

Kevin

Got any pics??? Also did you say hook size #6??? Thats tiny...

#6 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hook for live bait.

The small hook in adequate and allows the minnow

a little more freedom to swim around.

8-)

Got any pics??? Also did you say hook size #6??? Thats tiny...

match hook to bait....

#6 Spit Shot/Drop Shot hook, 5-0 smallie.

8-)

Got any pics??? Also did you say hook size #6??? Thats tiny...

match hook to bait....

#6 Spit Shot/Drop Shot hook, 5-0 smallie.

Awesome pic!!!!!!!!